Pray: Consult with your Creator
We continue with our current series entitled “FORWARD.” Last Sunday we learned that the first step in the process of moving forward is to have a Dream. We need to have a visual image of what we think God would want us to be and to do this year 2022. In order for us to build our dream, we need to
Root our dream in the Creator
Reproduce our dream in a Canvas
Reinforce our dream with Commitment
Reconcile our dream with its Cost
Release our dream to our Children
Now we go to the next step of moving forward… PRAY. We need to consult with our Creator concerning our dream.
“Prayers can turn dreams into realities.”
There are so many characters in the Bible that can teach us about prayer. But none can capture this principle than Nehemiah who is one of the most effective leaders God has ever used. So many books on leadership were written based on the Book of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah was a Jewish official serving the Persian king in the city of Susa, during the later years of the exile. Remember that the Babylonians had destroyed Israel and Jerusalem in 587 BC, most of the surviving Jews were exiled, but after more than 70 years several thousand Hebrew settlers had finally returned to rebuild the temple and reestablish a Jewish presence there. This was a deep burden for Nehemiah. He knew God’s plan of redemption depended on the continuity of His people in their land, where they could offer sacrifices in His temple and await His Messiah. To Nehemiah, it was a matter of heartfelt prayer.
Nehemiah is one big example of a man of God who wants nothing less than to move forward. He responded to his circumstance with prayer. He had a dream for his ruined nation, began his work, he recognized the problem, immediately prayed, and then acted on the problem. Nehemiah was forward.
Let’s go now to Nehemiah chapter 1.
(1) The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, (2) Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
(3) They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
(4) When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
The news hit Nehemiah so badly. But out of his deep tears came earnest prayers, and out of his prayers came a fervent dream. With God’s help, he himself would return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of the city of His God. It seemed an impossible feat because Nehemiah was the king’s cupbearer and a trusted advisor. The likelihood of King Artaxerxes releasing him (let alone financing the trip) seemed farfetched. But God had already planted the dream in Nehemiah’s heart, just as He is planting fresh dreams in yours.
Let us learn 6 principles from Nehemiah’s prayer life on how we can turn our dreams into realities.
1. Prepare Your Heart for God’s Plan
God’s desires flourish in prepared hearts, just like seeds in furrowed ground. Last Sunday, I urged you to imagine your future and make your dream. If you’re saying, “Yes! I want to do that!” but you’re not certain what your dream is, or what the next step forward is, then prayer is the answer.
Nehemiah saw a need that burdened his heart and started praying about it. There are two verses that tell us something about dreams—not the kind you have at night but the kind that guide you forward. Notice these two telling phrases:
I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on. (Neh. 2:12)
So my God put it into my heart to organize the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families. (Neh. 7:5)
Nehemiah didn’t come up with his dream for Jerusalem’s walls all by himself. His heart was receptive to the burdens and impressions God sent him.
“A prayerful heart is fertile ground for divine ideas.”
(Dr. David Jeremiah)
How can you be sure the dream in your heart is God’s will, not yours? You must humbly and specifically ask God to place His ideas for your life into your heart and mind.
“Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths.” (Psalm 25:4)
The sooner you do that, the better. No matter what your age is, don’t worry. It’s never too soon or too late to ask God for the next chapter in your life. It’s never too soon or too late to move forward. Amen?
2. Pray About Your Plans Day and Night
No matter the hour or the circumstances, pray!
As God begins to give you impressions and thoughts or burdens about something that He wants you to do, commit them to Him in serious, continual prayer.
As soon as Nehemiah sensed the need for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, he mourned and fasted.
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. (Neh. 1:4)
As his thoughts clarified and better understood what needed to happen, he began to pray this famous prayer…
Then I said: “LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. (Neh. 1:5-6)
Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” (Neh. 1:11)
Who was “this man”? He was King Artaxerxes, the most powerful man on earth at that time. Even though Nehemiah was his cupbearer, he couldn’t approach the king without risking his life. Only God could arrange the right moment. So Nehemiah prayed.
Many Christians have forgotten how to pray earnestly and with fervor. When did you last pour yourself into an earnest season of prayer? We get too busy, don’t we?
19th century pastor E.M. Bounds called prayer “spiritual energy.” He wrote,
How vast are the possibilities of prayer! How wide its reach! What great things are accomplished by this divinely appointed means of grace! It lays its hand on Almighty God and moves Him to do what He would not otherwise do if prayer were not offered. It brings things to pass which would never otherwise occur. The story of prayer is the story of great achievements. Prayer is a wonderful power placed by Almighty God in the hands of his saints, which may be used to accomplish great purposes and to achieve unusual results.
Remember how Nehemiah confessed his sin, reminded God of His promises, and prayed day and night? The Bible says,
“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” (James 5:16 NLT)
Prayer is the divine energy that brings the power of God into the plans He gives you, but you must learn to pray with fervor, persistence, and faith. I don’t know any shortcut for this. God guides His children as they learn the joy of praying to Him night and day.
3. Practice Shooting Arrows of Prayer
I am sure you have your scheduled time of prayer. We also have congregational prayer times. But sometimes you have to pray instantly, urgently, on the spur of the moment. The Lord hears those prayers too! They are called shooting arrows.
I urge you to learn to pray quickly, silently, and instantly. No one in the Bible mastered that skill better than Nehemiah. His book is peppered with short prayers interjected into his narrative. He knew how to pray spontaneously. For example, one day the king wanted a glass of wine, so Nehemiah prepared it.
In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” (Neh. 2:1-2)
Nehemiah knew those words could have reflected genuine concern, or they could have been his death sentence. It was a capital offense to be sad in the presence of Artaxerxes.
“I was very much afraid,” but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
The king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” (Neh. 2:3-5)
In the twinkling of an eye, with little time to think, Nehemiah immediately prayed. Nehemiah had his opportunity, but he had to say exactly the right words in the right way to move the king to his cause. His life was on the line, not to mention the desires of his heart. It was critical for him to speak wisely and for the king to react positively. So Nehemiah shot an arrow to heaven. Maybe it was just “Help me, Lord!”
Eight times in this book we read that he prayed spontaneously (2:4; 4:4–5, 9; 5:19; 6:14; 13:14, 22, 29). Nehemiah prayed at any time, even while talking with others. He knew that God is always in charge, is always present, and hears and answers every prayer.
And the Lord answered, and soon Nehemiah was on his way to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time. (Neh. 2:6)
When you know how to earnestly pray day and night, you’ll find there’s also great power in spontaneous bursts of prayer. “Because Nehemiah was in the habit of praying regularly, his natural response to this dangerous situation was to offer up a quick, silent ‘arrow prayer” (Caleb Parke).
Nehemiah could confidently pray throughout the day because he had established an intimate relationship with God during times of extended prayer (1:4–7). If we want to reach God with our emergency prayers, we need to take time to cultivate a strong relationship with God through times of in-depth prayer.
4. Presume for God to Do Things His Way
As God drops His seeds of inspiration into your mind and you pray over them—whether in quiet, extended prayer or in a quick, in-the-moment prayer—you’ll learn to trust Him for His own brand of success. You have to expect Him to do things His way.
Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (Prov. 16:3)
The word commit means to “entrust.” God can be trusted with your dreams—to divulge them, develop them, sometimes delay them, and always drench them with His blessings.
God opens and closes doors, arranges circumstances, and sometimes creates trajectories you didn’t expect. In Nehemiah’s case, the king granted him letters of safe conduct through the empire, along with provisions for the walls and gates.
And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests. (Neh. 2:8)
And not only that, the king also sent a military convoy to accompany him because the Jews had strong enemies in the province of Judah.
Arriving in Jerusalem, Nehemiah wanted to keep his dream a secret until it was time to rally the Jews, so he saddled his horse in the darkness and inspected the ruins by moonlight. The next day he gathered the people.
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.
They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. (Neh. 2:17-18)
“The God of heaven will give us success. (Neh. 2:20)
I believe with all my heart the God of heaven will grant success to His sincere children who seek His will for their lives. But remember, success doesn’t necessarily mean health, wealth, fame, and fortune. When God uses the term success, it means the fulfillment of His plan for you. And you have to trust Him however that unfolds if you want to move forward.
5. Plead for Overcoming Strength Amidst Obstacles
Moving forward involves encountering tremendous obstacles, fears, and foes.
Powerful forces in the province of Judah aligned against Nehemiah as soon as he showed up. The occupants of the land hated the presence of Jews in Jerusalem. One of the principal foes was a Samaritan warlord named Sanballat. Modern research has shown him to be the commander of a garrison force, and he was a formidable opponent. Nehemiah 4 says:
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?” (Neh. 4:1-2)
That’s the situation Nehemiah faced—trying to recover stones for his wall from heaps of burnt rubble while taunted by enraged enemies. You’ll have opposition too. Like Sanballat, the devil will hurl his forces against God’s unfolding work in your life. But don’t be bullied. Don’t be intimidated. Never let yourself stay discouraged. Do what Nehemiah did.
Notice these two little verses that Nehemiah inserted into the story:
Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders. (Neh. 4:4-5)
Few verses later - more problems and but he offered more prayers!
But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. (Neh. 4:9)
A couple of chapters later—much more problems, and yet much more pleadings!
They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.” But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” (Neh. 6:9)
And so it goes. We must pray for strength in overwhelming moments. We need God to strengthen our hands as we go forward, especially when we face unexpected or unwanted difficulties.
Expect it: the devil will try to push you off the road. But the One to whom we pray is the One before whom devils tremble. God will give you overcoming strength for overwhelming moments. That’s what He did for Nehemiah. And get this—he and the residents of Jerusalem finished the wall in fifty-two days! Only God could have done that. Amen?
6. Praise God for His Great Work in You
You have one more opportunity related to prayer as you move forward toward the future God has prepared for you. You have the privilege of praising God for His work in your life. Because Nehemiah and the Jews in Jerusalem finished the walls so quickly, they had some time on their hands.
Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Neh. 8:10)
And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away. (Neh. 12:43)
Brethren, there’s nothing like the joy and praise of watching God form and fulfill His plan for your life. And it only happens as we step toward our dreams in His presence through prayer. Amen?
